The White House beefed up its legal team and plans to aggressively invoke executive privilege in a bid to contain the potential fallout of Bob Mueller’s report and to curtail oversight by House Democrats.

Trump administration officials made an urgent case on Monday that the situation at the border with Mexico has reached a crisis level, laying the groundwork for the president to possibly declare a national emergency.

President Trump invited congressional leaders to the White House for a briefing on border security, the first face-to-face session involving Republicans and Democrats as the partial government shutdown entered its second week.

Democrats have settled on a strategy for attempting to reopen the government when they take control of the House on Thursday, aimed at ending the partial shutdown quickly — but denying President Trump the new money he wants for a border wall.

Trump's latest overtures in the wake of the midterm elections stand in stark contrast to the historical behavior of modern presidents, who have moved at least briefly toward the political center after being humbled at the ballot box.

A week after President Trump directed the military to draw up plans to withdraw about half the U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan, military officials are walking a fine line detailing the future of the longest U.S. war in history.

U.S. stock markets suffered their steepest Christmas Eve decline in decades Monday, defying the best efforts by the Trump administration to instill confidence, and coming very close to ending a record 10-year upward run.

President Trump, who aides said has been seething about news coverage of Mattis’s resignation letter, abruptly announced Sunday that he was removing Mattis two months early and installing Patrick Shanahan as acting defense secretary.